Shut up about Barclay Perkins - Boddington beers in 1939

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Boddington started the war brewing just four beers: Mild, Bitter, Stout and Strong Ale. Which is about the minimum you would expect from an English brewery. Like many breweries, their range had been drastically pruned in WW I and had never recovered. Still more interesting than in the 1980s, when they brewed just two beers: Bitter and Mild.

Compared to a London brewer, Boddington’s beers are rather modest in gravity. IP, for example, is around the same strength as a London Ordinary Bitter. While XX is between a London 4d Ale (1030-32º) and a 5d Ordinary Mild (1037-38º). The Stout is around 10º weaker than a London draught Stout, though I assume Boddington’s was only sold in bottled form.

All the beers are reasonably well hopped, but especially the Mild, with almost 8lbs per quarter (336 lbs) of malt. 4 to 5 lbs per quarter was more typical for a Mild brewed outside London. Combined with the relatively high degree of attenuation, this must have left the Bitter and Mild quite dry, bitter beers.

In terms of strength, there had been minimal changes to Boddington’s beers since 1920, when these were their gravities:

IP	1046
XX	1034
CC	1057
Stout	1051

Only the Stout had seen any real change in its strength. Which sort of sums the interwar period, which was one of great stability in terms of gravities and price.

Boddington beers in 1939
Date	Beer	Style	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	lbs hops/ qtr	hops lb/brl	calcu-lated IBU
3rd Jan	IP	Pale Ale	1045	1010	4.63	77.78%	6.92	1.39	48
3rd Jan	XX	Mild	1033.8	1007	3.54	79.26%	7.91	1.15	33
4th Jan	CC	Strong Ale	1056	1015.5	5.36	72.32%	8.10	2.17	67
19th Jan	St	Stout	1045	1013	4.23	71.11%	7.54	1.51	40
Source:
Boddington brewing record held at Manchester Central Library, document number M693/405/129.

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